Happy With Your Lot

Do you envy someone? Does even reading that question bring a particular person to mind? Often we find it harder to love the people who seem to be loved by all. Sinclair writes, “The green-eyed monster … doesn’t begin as a monster, but as a little flea. Small though it is, its bite gets under the skin. It makes us itch, then we scratch and it gets worse. Inflammation results and infection sets in. Before you know it, the poison is in your whole system.”

Christmas can often bring to light all new reasons to be envious. We may compare ourselves to that family at church who are financially better off; or think about that friend whose partner always seems to buy more thoughtful gifts; or get frustrated hearing about our work colleagues plans for yet another skiing holiday.

How often do we think about the spiritual damage that envy does? It turns us into someone who is never content, who is always wanting to have what God has given to someone else. As long as we are envious, we will never be able to say:

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

It is possible to be transformed from being envious of others to content with our own lives. The secret is love: even the basic meaning of the word in Greek is “to be happy with your lot”.

Again, we see that Jesus is the greatest example. He was never even slightly envious, never thought that he deserved better, no matter how difficult his life was. We read in Philippians 2 that though Jesus was equal with God, he didn’t hold onto that equality, but put himself in the lowly position of a servant by being born as a man. Paul urges us to have the same mindset as Jesus, being willing to put others first in all things. To love others and to seek their good is to be cured of our envy.

Today, consider who you are tempted to envy. What would it look like for you to show a mindset like Christ’s instead? Ask God to help you be content with all the ways he has blessed you, and for him to show you how to demonstrate Christ’s love to others.

Love Came Down at Christmas by Sinclair B. Ferguson (published by The Good Book Company) available to buy at Eden Christian Bookstore or Amazon.